Jordynne Grace, Storm Grayson, Drama King Matt help Zelo Pro shine
By Mike Pankow
December 10, 2021
No matter the talent or the venue, Zelo Pro always delivers.
Jordynne Grace holds GPA in a headlock during their main event mixed tag team match at Zelo Pro: “Any Given Sunday” on Sunday, Nov. 7 in Lisle, Ill. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
And the green brand of Chicagoland independent wrestling didn’t disappoint in its debut at BaseCamp Pub in Lisle with a mix of veteran independent stars and some well-known names gracing the lineup.
A main event of great champions capped off “Any Given Sunday” last month as Zelo Pro Women’s Champion and IMPACT Wrestling Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace and her husband, former ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham, defeated inaugural Zelo Pro Champion GPA and his fiancée, former Zelo Women’s Championship and ex-Freelance Underground Independent Champion Laynie Luck.
It was a fun and entertaining intergender battle with plenty of technical wrestling, some great heel work by GPA and Luck and some quirky moments as well.
The finish came when Grace rolled GPA for the pinfall, continuing GPA’s recent run of bad luck from Freelance Underground, where his two-year-plus reign as FU Champion ended in a matter of seconds in mid-October.
The semi-main may have been the match that stole the show as rising local star Storm Grayson maintained his upward moment by defeating Chicago native and former WWE Superstar and current IMPACT Wrestling star Drama King Matt Rehwoldt after a V-Trigger knee strike.
Storm Grayson, right, grapples with Drama King Matt Rehwoldt at Zelo Pro: “Any Given Sunday.” (Photo by Mike Pankow)
Grayson, who recently won the Freelance Underground Independent Championship from Luck during a six-person scramble, used his diverse offense of strikes and grappling to topple the veteran Rehwoldt, who had a nice run with Zelo last year when he fought the Blackheart Battalion, which included Grayson as a member.
Grayson and Rehwoldt shook hands and acknowledged one another following the match in a gesture of good sportsmanship to a nice ovation from the crowd at the intimate setting in Chicago’s West suburbs.
The card was stacked with quality as Gringo Loco opened the show with a victory over Chico Suave in a fun, Lucha style match before Gringo took off for a GALLI show for a double shot on a busy Sunday afternoon.
Zelo Pro general manager Swoggle came out to address the crowd, but one of Chicago’s most hated heels, Frank the Clown, interrupted the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Frank wanted to set up a future match for his protégé Trevor Outlaw, who was not at the show as he was booked for a tournament in California.
Swoggle made the match for Outlaw against former NXT wrestler Blake Christian (aka Trey Baxter) for Zelo’s next show in Milwaukee on Jan. 16. Outlaw since suffered a freak knee injury and has been ruled out for several months of in-ring action. Zelo recently announced that the returning Project M.O.N.I.X. has been booked in Outlaw’s place against Christian at Turner Hall Ballroom next month.
Then, Simon Gotch (aka Simon Grimm) made his return to the promotion, pulling out a victory over Zelo stalwart Mason Conrad with the Gotch-style piledriver. During the match, Gotch smashed a Christmas ornament on the face of Conrad. It was hard-fought match that could’ve gone either, but the former WWE and NXT superstar had his hand raised.
Young upstart Angel Escalera, the salsa-dancing sensation, upended veteran Bryce Benjamin, who was portraying his “One Sexy Mofo” character. The action got so hot and heavy that referee Dan Perch ended up bodyslamming Benjamin after a shoving match.
In tag team action, Joey “Jet” Avalon and Swoggle (substituting for Nick Colucci) defeated Country Air (Zach Hendrix and Doc Simmons). Country Air performed some aerial moves while Avalon, who won the Chicago Style Wrestling championship less than two weeks later, used his raw power. Swoggle provided some of his usual comic relief and even hit a chokeslam on Hendrix.
After intermission, the match between OVW Women’s Champion Sierra and CSW Women’s Champion Heather Reckless was declared a no-contest after Missa Kate entered the ring with a chair and hit both competitors with it. Kate was supposed to have a casket match with Blair Onyx, who was sick and couldn’t make the show. Since Kate didn’t have an opponent, she did commentary before interfering in the match.
It was an entertaining Sunday afternoon of wrestling with the Bears off and the wrestlers delivered and the crowd popped for almost everything, following the traditional Zelo Pro formula.
Zelo Pro returns to action in the new year with “Level Up” at Turner Hall Ballroom in downtown Milwaukee on Jan. 16.
For nearly 200 photos from the event, click here: https://bit.ly/3EMox3Q.
Catch Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow talking local and national pro wrestling every week with Chicago-area wrestling guests on Windy City Slam Podcast, part of the Broadcast Basement On-Demand Radio Network. Episodes drop early Tuesday morning wherever you download podcasts or at https://windycityslam.podbean.com/.
We are looking for guests to appear on future episodes of the Windy City Slam Podcast! Please contact Mike at mikepankow@windycityslam.com, message him on Facebook or DM him on Twitter.
